Turf roller



July BUEL TURF ROLLER Filed Jan. 8, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 12, 1932.J. F. BUEL 1,865,%8

TURF ROLLER Filed Jan. 8, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 12, 1932eas es UNITED PATENT] JAMES FREDERICK w s, or: WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS;

weer ROLLER j Applicatitin file'd January 8, 1931. serial to. some.

This invention relates to certain improvemen-ts in that type of deviceswhich are-de 'si gnedto form small holes in lawns, or golf courses,sothat water may have access more readily to the grass roots-and theturf may be softened, and more particularly to devices for this purposeof the type in which a series of pointed fingers are mounted ona rotarycourses, where it is usually desirable to operate such, devices-0n theputting greens only,

thus making it necessary to trans ort the device from one green toanother'z' The objects of my invention are to provide a device of thecharacter above referredto with means whereby it may be convenientlytransported from place to place without performing the functions forwhich it is intended and, may be readily turned so that ltmay bepropelled in different directions; Also to provide an improvedconstruction whereby the spikes may be effectively combined with beproduced which will effectively perform both puncturing and rollingfunctions, and which is of durable construction, so that breakage maybereduced to a minimum, and

repairs may be readily made in case breakage should occur.

I accomplish these objects by means of the const-ruction hereinafterdescribed, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which i VV Figs. 1 and 2 are side elevations of a device embodying the invention.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken at the line 1 t9 of Fig. 2. r

a roller, or series of rollers, and a device may m of the rim;

Fig.4 is-a side elevation thedevice, partly broken away. 1 .Figs. 5randare detail sectional'views of a rim portion of one of the rolls, takenlongitu dina'lly d transyersely' thereof, respectively; a

Accordingfto' my invention, I provide aseries of metal rolls, or wheelseach of which comprises ,a hub 1, which is rotatably mount- .7 ed onfanaxle 2, the ends ofwh'ijch are -se- 0 cured in iafyoke 3, to'whic'h ahandle tisconne'cted. The di'a'meterof the a'Xleis pre ferablysubstantially less than the diameter of the bores of the hubs, s'orthatthe wheels-may H a have some relative vertical movement. The

wheels 'lsarei of identical construction, each .comprisi-ng' a'heavyrrim 5', mounted on the hub-1 by means of spokes, said r i-m having acylindrical rolling face; The rim of each. wheel is provided with aseries of transversely disposed, regularly spaced holes, which extend inparallelTelErtioh to-each other and to said: face, from one side edgethereofto the other, approximately v midway between; said face and theinner periphery of the rim, and a series 'of shafts 6. are rotatablymount-- ed therein- A series :of pointedfingers, or

spikes 7. are rigidly fiXGCl in said shafts in 3 right angular relationthereto, and in position.

to permit their pointed end portions to eir tend beyond the peripheralface of rim, In the arrangement 'shownin Fig, 6, a shaft 6 is extendedbeyond both edges of the r'i'mand jasp'il're 7 is set into and securedin each projecting endportion; thereof close to the edges A ho1e18 is'also forined thru the middle of the rim, anda third spike,"as 7a, ispassed thru s'aidfhole and thru the shaft, the-shan'lrporti'on of thespike 'being extena ed withinthe inner periphery of the As shown in Fig.'5, the outerportions of the'holes 8 are enlarged-"at one side thereofand the i i'nier portions-are similarlyenlarged at the opposite sidethereof, to permit "swing. P ing' movement *of the spike therein; to ali'r'nited'ex'tent, at each side of'a position in which it extends inthe direction or a radius of the The middle spike was extended i n wa rdbe, m yo'nd the shaft which it is mountedg-and a 7 small coil spring 9is attached to the inner end thereof and to the rim in position to holdall the spikes on the shaft in the full line position shown in Fig. 5.

The arrangement shown in detail in Fig. 6 is alternated with anarrangement indicated in Fig. 3 in which two spikes are extend- 7 edthruholes in the rim similar to the holes 8 shownin Fig. 5 andaremounted in a shaft 6 in a manner similar to that already described,

except that they are located midway between tobe used to perform itsintended functions,

the middle of the rim and its edges, so that a staggered arrangement ofthe spikes will be provided on eachwheel. That is, in thearrangementshown, five circular rows of spikes are providedon eachwheel, each spikebeing located opposite the middle of the spaces between the spikes intheadjacent rows.

A spring 9 is attached to a spike on each shaft, so that all the spikeswillnormallybe held in the full line position of Fig. '5; in

which position the sides of theholes 8 will I act as stops to limit theswinging movement V by the springs. The angular position'with relationto a radius, in which the spikes are held when in this. position, issuch that, when the wheels are propelled forwardly, so that they arerotated'in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 4, the spikes on eachshaftwillbe. held ;-perpendicularly to the surface of the ground when theends thereof are brought into'a position inwhich they are about topenetrate, so that, on further forward movement of the wheel the spikeswillbe driven perpenvdicularly into the ground and will be drawn time,if the spikes penetrate the'ground to their-fullest extent,the faceofthe wheels will be pressed down on the ground about the spikes so thatthe surface will be rolled.

the yoke 3 for asuitable distance and a pair 1 of arms 10 are mounted onthe extended pox tion thereofat each-sideof the yoke.

shaft 12 is mounted in the end portions of eachpair of arms and a pairof wheels 14 are rotatably mounted on said shafts. 12. An

arm 15 is connected at oneend to each shaft 12 and at its opposite endis securely bolted 4 to the adjacent side of the yoke 3 in such a po- 1sition that the arms 10 are held at a slightly obtuse angle to the yoke3, or nearly at right I Said arms 10 are of equallength and the arms 15are connected to the yoke 3 in such positions that the, shafts 12 anglesthereto.

7 i are held in axial alignment, inwhich posiof therim of each wheel 14extends tions they are held adjacent the rims of the rolls or wheels 1,so that the greater pgortion eyond sitions.

the handle 4 will be held in a positionsimilar to that of Fig.1, inwhich the wheels 14 will be held above the axle 2 and out of contact'with the ground, and when the device .is to be moved without having itperform its functions, the handle 4 will be swung over to the oppositeposition, so that the wheels 14 will first be brought into contact withthe ground; and, then on further movementof the handle in thesamedirection the rolls 2 will belifted from the ground as shown in Fig.2,so that the device will be wholly supported by the wheels 14, and maybereadily moved without having the spikes touch the ground.

Q As all the wheels are freely rotatable on ,the axle 2 independently ofeach other, the

direction in which the device is pushed may be readily changed withoutlifting it. Also,-; i. by mounting the rolls on an axle, the diameter ofwhich is substantially less than that of the holes in the hubs, relativevertical movement :0f the wheels'isv permitted in case a spike shouldstrike a stone or hard spot which;

might tend to break it.

I claim:

arim provided with a cylindrical rolling 1. A turf rolljer comprisingawheel having tion within said" rim andfextendin'g in parallelism withthearcs and with theface thereof,

a seriesof pointed spikes rigidlymounted in each shaft perpendicularlythere-to, said spikes being extended through said rim be-? 7 yond itsface" and arranged to swing with The axle 2 is extended beyond each-sideof roller perpendicularly will yield permit withdrawal thereofin theirentering po- 2. A turf roller comprising a wheel having a rim providedwith a cylindrica-lrolling face,"

a series of shafts mounted for oscillation" thereofand' extending inperpendicular relation thereto, the intermediate spikes being extendedthrough the rim and all ofthe spikes" 1'25 mounted in the projecting endportions of each shaft and in anintermediate portion name to thisspecification.

JAMES FREDERICK BUEL.

